Post by Wil Frozendagger on Sept 22, 2019 23:24:01 GMT
The smell of trees and lush vegetation was one that Wil was still getting used to, one that was still an alien presence which he didn't exactly understand how the regular citizens tolerated. It wasn't at all like the shores of the River Mirar, spilling its contents, rotten and corrupted from the filth of the city of Luskan and the silty bog that it lay upon, straight into the Sea of Swords. Loose clothing with few layers was also an irregularity, for there wasn't a biting chill near constantly in the air. The chill tempered the spirit, which made the spirits that much better. The days were too consistent in length, the races too numerous to count to the boy, who had only heard of half of them in stories told over tavern tables, and they were altogether too friendly for someone who understood 'do you want something?' as a threat before a question.
But fishing? Fishing never changes.
This he appreciated as he cast his line once more into the stream, more to settle his thoughts than to turn a profit, for he already knew he wasn't going to be able to do that this week. A hundred gold pieces. Wil couldn't recall a time when he ever saw that much money in a single location yet he'd spent each and every one of them, chasing leads, paying for information, diving through books. For what? Why? Surely he needed the money more? He shook the thought once again and cast his line once more, and to the stream he spoke.
"So Gegrun, this big arse half-orc lad, had this lead about this temple, something about a man in the sky telling him. Now, I would've ignored this 'cept 1. I've seen the lad do his stuff before. Proper paladin of legend stuff, blasted this undead guy apart, and 2., dude's dumb. Not like geezer down the tavern dumb, I mean dumb like a kid. And he's lost like me with a whole lot less smarts, let it be said. Seriously, Uthgardts look like scholars next to him, and the last thing he needs is arseholes leading him by the nose, like Menace, who's sinking his teeth into him like a wolf to a steak. Talk about low hanging fruit, convincing him's as easy as saying it's a good thing. And he's trying to be good but I don't think he knows what that even means, but what do I know? Menace brought another devilish guy with him, massive wings to match a massive prick. Are they all like that or are those two just off? Seriously, they sit there thinking they can fool everyone but not me. Like mother always said, don't trust anyone who can't speak clearly and can't introduce themselves in less than ten words. Naah, miss me with all that 'dear friends' shit like I didn't see that evil, necromantic cleaver strapped to your belt, when we told you so much. We were soon joined by Kinneard, wizard dude but with this massive fuck-off warhammer, and Kade, this angelborn bard. I know he's angelborn because he made it a point to flex the fact with all the wing flashing. Anyway, at the table we made a fantastic discovery. Get this; wings for breakfast. Luxury, mate."
He pulled the line back and retrieved a small trout from the water. Too small to sell on, too much to eat by himself. He tossed it back into the stream.
"So Menace pulls out these directions to a place like that he's heard from, I don't know, somewhere, and I question it but I reckon Menace wouldn't try and fuck us off like that. He might be an idiot but he's not stupid. So we head off, and obviously, you know I was the guy to guide them. Anyway we met this like giantish druid, firbolg i think he said, offered us mushrooms, you know the kind. Not really my thing, but Kade took some. Oh right yeah, he literally popped out of a tree, and I asked whether that was regular, but I guess he didn't distinguish between firbolg and druid. Eventually we found the place, basically a big dip in the ground with an entrance in the centre. Weird snake motifs everywhere. Ancient. Eventually we found something like a sacrifice altar, and that's when we heard this sound, so I casted that spell, Detect Thoughts, and found something that wasn't us, let's say. We chased it and found these two little devils and a massive one, and obviously that's when the gloves came off. I mindblasted one of the small ones before charging for the big guy, which in hindsight was a really bad idea, but Gegrun pulled through once again. But shit, I nearly died..."
Wil took a second to contemplate it. He looked down into the stream and saw his fist shaking. He saw his frame, slight and unsatisfyingly weak. A gout of water briefly shot up as he kicked at the stream.
“We found a whole bunch of stuff after that. This staff,” he said, pointing to the serpentine rod on the side of the bank as if anybody was watching. “The head turns into a snake you know, it’s weird. I kept it away from Menace, I already don’t like the look of that cleaver he’s got. There was also this book called The Book of Dreams and Nightmares, which I let Kinneard deal with. Wizards dealing with wizard stuff, you know, seemed unfair to deprive him of it when I already claimed the staff. There was also this weird ruby, which had abjuration all over it. Menace had said that someone called Aurelia, who kinda runs this place, I guess? Yeah he said she was paying for them, so I let him take it. Anything for profit for that guy, right? But yeah, turns out those things are probably holding some seriously powerful beings. Like, I thought that guy was pretty strong so for him to look for that, man I don’t know… I’ve heard they’ve been turning up all over the place too and Aurelia’s hoarding them. No clue what’s going on but I’m worried…”
He stopped casting his line and walked down to the bank and sat, staring at the reflection of his face, seeing the lines and tones of himself and all his ancestors before him.
“What am I supposed to do about this? Magnatus and Faris, they’re the ones that said I had to keep surviving but they’d never take this lying down…”.
He stared a while at the staff at his feet, aimlessly picking it up and turning it in his hands. Eventually he tapped it against the ground and the serpent that formed the top of the cane came to life, hissing and flicking its tongue. His gaze hardened. He needed to survive, but he also needed to see this through. With enough power, there was no reason why he couldn’t do both.
That was it then. No more running, no more fear, no delusions of heroism or goodness.
Just a concerned citizen.
And if it came to the worst, street justice, Frozendagger style.
But fishing? Fishing never changes.
This he appreciated as he cast his line once more into the stream, more to settle his thoughts than to turn a profit, for he already knew he wasn't going to be able to do that this week. A hundred gold pieces. Wil couldn't recall a time when he ever saw that much money in a single location yet he'd spent each and every one of them, chasing leads, paying for information, diving through books. For what? Why? Surely he needed the money more? He shook the thought once again and cast his line once more, and to the stream he spoke.
"So Gegrun, this big arse half-orc lad, had this lead about this temple, something about a man in the sky telling him. Now, I would've ignored this 'cept 1. I've seen the lad do his stuff before. Proper paladin of legend stuff, blasted this undead guy apart, and 2., dude's dumb. Not like geezer down the tavern dumb, I mean dumb like a kid. And he's lost like me with a whole lot less smarts, let it be said. Seriously, Uthgardts look like scholars next to him, and the last thing he needs is arseholes leading him by the nose, like Menace, who's sinking his teeth into him like a wolf to a steak. Talk about low hanging fruit, convincing him's as easy as saying it's a good thing. And he's trying to be good but I don't think he knows what that even means, but what do I know? Menace brought another devilish guy with him, massive wings to match a massive prick. Are they all like that or are those two just off? Seriously, they sit there thinking they can fool everyone but not me. Like mother always said, don't trust anyone who can't speak clearly and can't introduce themselves in less than ten words. Naah, miss me with all that 'dear friends' shit like I didn't see that evil, necromantic cleaver strapped to your belt, when we told you so much. We were soon joined by Kinneard, wizard dude but with this massive fuck-off warhammer, and Kade, this angelborn bard. I know he's angelborn because he made it a point to flex the fact with all the wing flashing. Anyway, at the table we made a fantastic discovery. Get this; wings for breakfast. Luxury, mate."
He pulled the line back and retrieved a small trout from the water. Too small to sell on, too much to eat by himself. He tossed it back into the stream.
"So Menace pulls out these directions to a place like that he's heard from, I don't know, somewhere, and I question it but I reckon Menace wouldn't try and fuck us off like that. He might be an idiot but he's not stupid. So we head off, and obviously, you know I was the guy to guide them. Anyway we met this like giantish druid, firbolg i think he said, offered us mushrooms, you know the kind. Not really my thing, but Kade took some. Oh right yeah, he literally popped out of a tree, and I asked whether that was regular, but I guess he didn't distinguish between firbolg and druid. Eventually we found the place, basically a big dip in the ground with an entrance in the centre. Weird snake motifs everywhere. Ancient. Eventually we found something like a sacrifice altar, and that's when we heard this sound, so I casted that spell, Detect Thoughts, and found something that wasn't us, let's say. We chased it and found these two little devils and a massive one, and obviously that's when the gloves came off. I mindblasted one of the small ones before charging for the big guy, which in hindsight was a really bad idea, but Gegrun pulled through once again. But shit, I nearly died..."
Wil took a second to contemplate it. He looked down into the stream and saw his fist shaking. He saw his frame, slight and unsatisfyingly weak. A gout of water briefly shot up as he kicked at the stream.
“We found a whole bunch of stuff after that. This staff,” he said, pointing to the serpentine rod on the side of the bank as if anybody was watching. “The head turns into a snake you know, it’s weird. I kept it away from Menace, I already don’t like the look of that cleaver he’s got. There was also this book called The Book of Dreams and Nightmares, which I let Kinneard deal with. Wizards dealing with wizard stuff, you know, seemed unfair to deprive him of it when I already claimed the staff. There was also this weird ruby, which had abjuration all over it. Menace had said that someone called Aurelia, who kinda runs this place, I guess? Yeah he said she was paying for them, so I let him take it. Anything for profit for that guy, right? But yeah, turns out those things are probably holding some seriously powerful beings. Like, I thought that guy was pretty strong so for him to look for that, man I don’t know… I’ve heard they’ve been turning up all over the place too and Aurelia’s hoarding them. No clue what’s going on but I’m worried…”
He stopped casting his line and walked down to the bank and sat, staring at the reflection of his face, seeing the lines and tones of himself and all his ancestors before him.
“What am I supposed to do about this? Magnatus and Faris, they’re the ones that said I had to keep surviving but they’d never take this lying down…”.
He stared a while at the staff at his feet, aimlessly picking it up and turning it in his hands. Eventually he tapped it against the ground and the serpent that formed the top of the cane came to life, hissing and flicking its tongue. His gaze hardened. He needed to survive, but he also needed to see this through. With enough power, there was no reason why he couldn’t do both.
That was it then. No more running, no more fear, no delusions of heroism or goodness.
Just a concerned citizen.
And if it came to the worst, street justice, Frozendagger style.
